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"This earthquake occurred near the southern end of the Caribbean subduction zone."

In downtown Caracas, the unfinished Tower of David skyscraper saw concrete cascade from its upper floors onto the pavement, causing firefighters to close off traffic.

Seismologist Stephen Hicks wrote on Twitter: "M7.3 earthquake today along the northern coast of Venezuela is one of the largest ever recorded earthquakes along the boundary between the Caribbean & South American plates.

"There was an M7.7 quake to the west in 1900 but this will have preceded detailed instrumental recordings."

This is the largest earthquake since 1900 say seismologists (Image: USGS)

Safety officials stood outside the Tower of David (Image: REUTERS)

Mr Reverolsaid that the quake had impacted five states and that the Venezuelan government had deployed 20,000 emergency workers.

This comes as Venezuela is facing economic chaos, with President Nicolas Maduro implimenting drastic changes to the monetary system.

Amongst the changes, the country will officially devalue its currency by about 90 percent and increase the minimum wage by 3,000 percent.